Bryzgalov, Coyotes blank Ducks

by Jim Gintonio - Dec. 23, 2009 11:25 PMThe Arizona Republic

The bottom line when a goaltender is playing well, Coyotes captain Shane Doan said, is to keep things simple.

The Coyotes - behind another stellar performance from Ilya Bryzgalov, who recorded his NHL-leading fifth shutout - simply dominated and blanked the Anaheim Ducks 4-0 on Wednesday night at Jobing.com Arena in front of an announced crowd of 10,030.

"He's been so solid," Doan said after Bryzgalov stopped 21 shots, and reached 21 wins earlier than any goalie in franchise history. "When he's playing as well as he is . . . we know we're going to get our chances, and whenever we do, we've got to capitalize on them."

The Coyotes did capitalize, and Bryzgalov stymied the Ducks when they had their opportunities. Many things done well, big and small, drove the victory, the eighth in a row on home ice that vaulted them to fourth place in the Western Conference with 48 points (23-13-2).

"I think we played great," he said. "I think we were able to dominate. They played last night, and they looked tired. We didn't give them anything; that was our plan, and we wanted to pressure them all over the ice and force them to make turnovers.

"We did well, executed well and paid attention to the little things, because in the big picture, it's the little things in hockey. We deserved this win."

The Ducks (15-15-7) were 6-0-3 against the Coyotes in the previous nine meetings, and goalie Jonas Hiller had been a sparkling 8-0-2 in his career. With about eight minutes remaining, Hiller was replaced by Jean Sebastien-Giguere.

But the battle of the goalies was no contest.

"He was very good," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said of Bryzgalov. "I don't think he got tested a ton, but when he had to make key saves, he made key saves. There was one coming down there the end of the second period that he made (against Kyle Chipchura) that I thought was a very good save just to keep the game pushing along for us."

Gritty work by the line of Doan, Matthew Lombardi and Scottie Upshall paid off with 10:40 remaining in the first. The trio went against the Ducks in their zone, winning the little battles, and Upshall scored with his linemates getting assists. It was Upshall's third goal in the past four games and the line's 13th point in the past two.

With 3:31 left in the period, a perfect pass by Radim Vrbata through the neutral zone set up Martin Hanzal, who fired a rocket from between the blue line and left circle past Hiller for a 2-0 lead. Hanzal's fourth of the season broke his 20-game goal-less streak.

Taylor Pyatt padded the Coyotes' lead in the second. Charging from behind the net toward the slot, he took a pass from Peter Mueller and scored on a one-handed backhand. Robert Lang's third-period power play goal closed out the scoring.

"We needed to set the tempo of the game. I thought we did some real good things early to push the game along," Tippett said. "We got the ideal situation in that situation: You got a lead and make them chase the game, make them use as much energy as you can, and I thought we did a very good job of that."

200: Career points reached by the Coyotes' Taylor Pyatt on a second-period goal.

View from the press box

Shoot the puck, and good things can happen. For Martin Hanzal, it snapped a 20-game goal-less streak. His goal in the first period, came from about 55 feet, and Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller appeared to be the most-surprised observer in the house as the Coyotes took a 2-0 lead.

Saturday: Kings at CoyotesWhen: 7 p.m. | Where: Jobing.com Arena.TV/radio: FSAZ/KGME-AM (910)Coyotes update: Captain Shane Doan will be honored in a pregame ceremony for playing in his 1,000th career game Dec. 17. The Coyotes, fourth in the Western Conference, are seeking their ninth consecutive home victory.Kings update: Los Angeles is fifth in the West, one point behind the Coyotes, and will be playing its first game after eight days off. Four of the Kings' injured players, including LW Ryan Smyth, are expected to return. They are 12-8-1 on the road.